


Merry Christmas

by MusicReject



Series: Holidays [3]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alex is really happy, Christmas, Christmas traditions, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, happiness, teeth rotting fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 17:34:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9082549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicReject/pseuds/MusicReject
Summary: It's Alex and John's first official Christmas, especially in their apartment, and John's determined to make it the best one yet. 
orJohn goes a little overboard on Christmas traditions.





	

It’s three in the afternoon on December 1st and, needless to say, John’s excited. He skipped his classes and called in sick at the hospital so he could have the day free. He spilled everything to Lafayette, about two weeks ago, so that he wouldn’t have to shop on his own. They spent the morning running around the city for the decorations that would give Alex the perfect Christmas. Lafayette constantly reassuring John that no matter what decorations they got, Alex was going to love it. John knew that, of course he did, but it’s more of the fact that it’s their first official Christmas together in a home of their own, with a family they built, and John _needs_ it to be perfect.

The bags are scattered about the living room, there’s too many to pile in one place, and John’s bouncing on the balls of his feet. Alex will be home any minute and then they can start their own traditions. He hears the sound of keys in the lock, jiggling the rusty lock just so it will twist, and then pushing the door open. “John? Are you home?” He hears Alex  kick off his shoes and drop his bag on the floor, “I ran into Laf on the way up here and they said you didn’t go to class today?”

John tugs the Santa hat on as Alex turns the corner into the living room and he stops short, “John? What are all these bags for?”

John finally lets the grin loose, “merry Christmas!”

Alex raises an eyebrow, “Christmas isn’t until the 25th?”  He walks closer and peeks into one of the bags, “are these decorations?”

He nods, “yeah. I normally decorate by myself to surprise you but uh, Christmas is one of those holidays that you uh,” he rubs the back of his neck as his cheeks burn, “make traditions with your family?” His voice rises at the end.

Alexander pulls out an elf hat and looks up at John, “why do I have to be the elf?”

“You can wear the Santa hat if you want.”

“Is this some secret kink of yours?” he says with a smirk, “how come you never told me that you’re a dom?”

“No!” John sputters, “it’s just Christmas hats. But, I mean, if you want.”

Alexander laughs and pulls the hat on, “I don’t mind,” he pauses for a second, “about either of these.” His face heats up, “I’ve uh, never really decorated for Christmas before so, what’s first?”

John smiles and drags a box out from behind the sofa, “we put up the tree. I would’ve gotten a real one but it’s somewhat difficult to get a real one in the city.” He sits down next to it and peels the tape off, “come on, Alex. We’re going to put up the tree and decorate it first.”

Alex’s heart warms as he watches John open the box and pull out the pieces of the tree. He sits down next to John, places a hand on the side of his face and turns his head to face him, “I love you.”

John covers Alex’s hand with his, “I love you too.” He leans forward and kisses Alex softly, “this tree isn’t going to decorate itself,” he murmurs against Alex’s lips.

Alex laughs and pushes John away gently, “it’s all about trees today, huh?” He helps John pull out the pieces of the tree and lay them out on the floor, “what’s first?”

“Well,” John replies, digging into the box, “we need the plastic part that we put the tree in.” He pulls it out and sits it on the floor, “problem. Where are we putting the tree?”

“Here I was thinking you thought of everything,” Alex stands up and looks around the room. “What if we put it in the corner over near the window?” he asks, looking down at John.

John looks over to where he gestured to and nods to himself, “that could work. It might get in the way of your desk though?”

Alex shrugs, “so we move my desk down a bit. It’ll be fine.” He picks up the plastic piece and places it in the corner, “alright, John, can you picture the tree here?”

John picks up the bottom piece of the tree and knee walks to Alex  (“you could have just stood up, John,” laughs Alex). He places it into the metal piece and tightens the screws to keep it in place, “okay, Alex. Back up and tell me if you like the position.”

Alex backs up, “roll your sleeves up a bit and I would like it more.”

John goes to roll his sleeves up before stopping, “Alex, of the tree. Not me.”

“The tree’s fine in that spot,” Alex replies with a laugh, “what do you need next?”

“Well, we need to push these branches down so it's,” he waves his hands around, “poofy?”

“I'm afraid I don't know what you mean,” Alexander states before sitting on the ground, “can you demonstrate?”

“Okay,” John starts, pushing up his sleeves and reaching between the plastic branches, “we just have to push down so they can out.” He pushes down on the branches, adjusting them as they fall to their positions. Each dancer finding their mark on the stage. Alexander watches the muscles in John’s forearm tense with each push of the branch, “see what I meant?”

Alex startles out of his staring and glances up at John’s face, quickly putting on a confused frown, “no, I don't get it?”

John steps back for a second and looks at the smallish tree, “the bottom part’s done.” He's quiet for a moment then hums when he gets an idea, “hand me the next piece. It's the biggest.”

Alex reaches for it and slides it over, “too heavy.”

John snorts and lifts it up, he screws it into place and glances at his boyfriend, “pay close attention, Alex.”

He nods quickly, “you have my undivided attention.”

John makes quick work of the branches again, explaining to Alex what he needs to do and how to avoid getting scratched. He turns to face him after putting on the final piece, as he claimed that he still didn’t know how to do it, and catches Alex tearing his gaze away from John’s ass, his eyes get comically wide, “did you use my love of Christmas as a way to check out my ass?”

Alex shrugs helplessly, “it's a nice ass?”

John laughs and moves towards Alex, pushing him back on the ground and straddling his waist, “I'm gonna have to put you to work.” He leans down and whispers against Alex’s mouth, lips barely brushing, “you're lucky this is a forgiving time of year.”

Alex can't help the smile that spreads across his face, “I love you.”

John grins, “you fucking better.” He goes to kiss him before Alex pushes him back with a pout.

“That's not what you're supposed to say, asshole.”

“First you say you love me, now you're calling me an asshole,” John replies with a sigh and a glance towards be ceiling, as if some higher power will grant him more patience. He feels the force of Alex’s pout so he looks back down at him and a gentle smile pulls at his lips, “I love you too, Alexander.” He smirks, “even if you're an asshole.”

The smile on Alex’s face is replaced with an eye roll and an exasperated sigh as he pushes John off of him, “I don’t know if this relationship is going to work out, John.”

John laughs and rolls over, throwing a leg over Alex’s waist, “you can’t break up with me, it’s Christmas.”

Alex wraps an arm around John, “it’s December 1st, John. Not Christmas.”

“Christmas lasts all month, you know that.”

“I’m fairly certain that holidays don’t work like that,” Alex replies, raising an eyebrow as he looks at John.

“Of course they do,” John states with an exaggerated eye roll as he stands up, pulling Alex with him, “we need to decorate the tree.”

“I thought we were done,” Alex groans as he’s pulled up.

“We’re nowhere near done,” laughs John as he pulls various packages of ornaments out of the bags. He pulls packs of gold and silver garland from the plastic bags that he lays next to the ornaments. “My family usually hangs Candy Canes from the tree. Do you want to do that?”

Alex shrugs, “if you want.”

John lets out a small sigh as he fidgets with the pack of candy canes, “look, Alex, if you don’t want to decorate, you don’t have to. I understand.”

“No, no, I do,” Alexander quickly reassures him, “I just… we never really had a full blown Christmas tree when I was growing up? I’m a little out of my element and I don’t want to ruin this for you.”

“You’re not going to ruin this for me?” John replies, confused as to why Alex would believe that, “if anything, you being here will make it better.”

A small smile tugs at the corner of Alex’s lips and he quickly nods, “alright! Do we just hang up the ornaments?”

John grins and picks up one of the boxes, “yep. Not in one place though, spread them out.”

Alex salutes, “sir, yes, sir!”

Their share a quick kiss before Alex takes the box from John and gets to work attaching the metal hooks to the decorated ornaments. John watches him for a moment, a small smile tugging at his lips as he sees Alex slowly let the excitement take over. Alex looks over at him and gestures for him to join, “come on, grandpa. Help me decorate.”

John snorts, “don’t be fucking rude.” He takes the ornament that Alex holds out and carefully hangs it from the tree. They take turns hanging the ornaments from the plastic branches but Alex disappears into their bedroom near the end of the store-bought ornaments. He reappears about ten minutes later with his hands behind his back.

“Alex?” John questions.

Alexander smiles at him, cautious and unsure but loving all the same, “I um, I want to hang something from the tree.”

John steps to the side, “of course, it’s your tree too.”

Alex walks over to the tree, “would you mind closing your eyes?”

John obediently closes his eyes and waits while Alex does what he needs to do. Eventually, Alex whispers that John can open his eyes so he does. He focuses on the tree and feels his eyes start to burn as he stares at what Alex hung from the branches. “Alex,” he whispers.

“I can take them down if-”

“Don’t you dare,” he interrupts.

He steps closer, fingers reaching up to brush the photographs before he thinks better of it and drops them to his side. There’s two photos hanging side-by-side on the plastic tree and the one on the left draws John’s eyes the most. He remembers scanning that photo to make repair the coloring  and storm damages and make copies, “is that?”

“The very same,” Alex replies, a small smile on his face as he watches John.

It’s a photo of Alex’s mother. More specifically, it’s Alex and his mother, sitting side by side on the white sandy beaches of the Caribbean. Alex sits with a book his lap while his mother stares down at him, a proud smile on her exhausted face. Alex looks no older than nine years old, in the photo, yet intelligence beyond his years shine in his eyes.

John tears his gaze away from that photo and focuses on the one next to it. This one is more recent, taken within the last two years and John remembers it being taken. He remembers Alex asking if he could take a photo of them as they sat in the grass at Central Park. Their first date and one of the only days that Alex wasn’t near his laptop. John had agreed immediately and he remembers the feeling of Alex pressed up against him and the intoxicating smell of his cologne, that he had to talk himself out of buying that very night. He remembers seeing the photo as Alex’s lock screen the very next day when they saw each other the morning before class and seeing Alex’s blush when he realizes that John saw.

John looks over at Alex and grins, “I think you’re getting the hang of this whole Christmas thing.”

Alex laughs and pulls John towards him, “I guess I should thank you for that.” He quickly kisses John, wrapping his arms around John’s waist, relishing the feeling of John’s body pressed against his own.

John smiles against Alex’s lips before pulling away, “I think you’re secretly in love with these holidays.”

Alex shakes his head, “I’m just in love with you.”

John laughs and looks over at the tree, “we forgot the lights… and the garland.”

Alex groans and lets his head fall on John’s shoulder, “do we have to take all the ornaments off?”

“No,” John replies slowly, “we’ll just… work around them.” He picks up the garland, “I guess we’ll do this first?”

“You’re the expert,” Alex replies with shrug, helping John open the package. They wrap the garland around the tree, avoiding the painted glass and metal. Alexander picks up the packages of lights, “okay, do we really need lights?”

John takes them from him, “yes, Alexander. We need lights, what kind of question was that?” He opens the lights and hands the packaging to Alex, “throw that away, darling.”

Alex rolls his eyes but tosses the packaging in the trashcan. He watches as John carefully hangs up the colorful lights around the tree, letting him know when they’re too hidden or hanging off too much. John sending a playful glare and quiet thanks each correction.

“Can we sit down now? I have a lot of homework to do,” Alex says to John, after the lights on the tree are hung up.

“We need to put the star on the tree.”

“Why? The tree looks fine.”

“Because, Alexander,” John says, walking over to one of the bags, “it’s just a thing that people do now but it typically represents the Star of Bethlehem.” He pulls the golden star out of the plastic bag with a flourish, electrical cord dangling.

“I didn’t that know you’re religious?” Alexander replies, taking the star from him gently.

“I’m from the south, Alex, it’s kind of a requirement,” John says with a laugh, gesturing for Alex to put the star on the tree.

He holds it in his hands, face heating up, “um,” he clears his throat, “we’re starting traditions right?”

John nods, “absolutely.”

Alex looks down at the star, avoiding John’s face, “would you put the star up there with me?”

John smiles softly and walks over to Alex, “I’d be honored.” He places his hand over Alex’s and they reach up with the star, placing it gently on the top of the tree. John lets go and plugs the star into the outlet, golden light spilling out into the room, mixing with the colored lights beautifully.

Alexander takes John’s hand and steps back, pulling John with him, “look at that.”

“Beautiful,” John whispers.

Alex reaches up and turns John’s head to the tree so he’s no longer facing Alexander. “Still beautiful,” he mutters and Alexander laughs.

The tree’s a mess. There are too many ornaments on one side and the star is lopsided but it’s definitely the most beautiful tree that John’s ever seen. He laughs as Alex pulls him to the sofa and they fall down on it, Alex grabs his laptop and tosses the television remote to John. Alexander makes a valiant effort to work on his papers but his gaze keeps falling on John, who’s curled up in the corner of the sofa watching the Polar Express on the small television. Alex sighs, saves his work, and puts the laptop on the coffee table, “do you want some hot chocolate?”

John smiles at him and nods, “that would be great.”

When he comes back with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate, he curls up against John’s side and ignores the warmth settling into his bones.

* * *

 

It’s a week later and Alex likes to pretend that he’s used to the New York winters. That the snow doesn’t bother him and that’s _definitely not_ on the verge of frost bite. He’s walking back to the apartment and he’s ready to curl up under every blanket that they own, exhaustion and cold burrowing under his skin. So when he nears their apartment and sees John waiting outside, frantically waving the moment that Alex gets in his line of sight, he considers turning around and walking to Lafayette’s.

“Yes, love?” He asks through gritted teeth.

John grins, nose red from cold, “it’s snowing.”

Alex raises an eyebrow, “I’m well aware. Are you okay?”

“This is another tradition; we have to have a snowball fight. Or build a snowman,” John says, snow catching in his eyelashes.

Alexander sighs, “are you serious right now?”

John takes his hands quickly, “Alexander, my love, I’m _very_ serious.”

Because Alexander loves John dearly and will do whatever it takes to make him happy, they build a snowman. Okay, Alexander actually has a lot of fun building the snowman. He helps John roll the snow to make the bottom and goes on the hunt for perfect pebbles while John works on the middle. When Alexander gets back, they carefully form the head and set it on top of the other two pieces, forming a slightly lopsided snowman, that’s more gray than white. Alexander presses the pebbles into the body for buttons and eyes, and then presses the leftover pebbles into the snow to form a smile.

“What should we name them?” John asks, wrapping an arm around Alexander’s shoulders.

“I say that we name them John,” Alexander replies.

John nods solemnly and then kneels next to the snowman, “I see the resemblance.”

Alexander laughs and shivers, John quickly noticing, “come on, let’s get you inside. I don’t want my delicate Caribbean to be frozen.”

Alex shoves him, “I think the proper term is West Indian, asshole.” But let’s John drag him inside, sighing with relief once they hit the barely working heat.

“Go take a shower,” John replies, helping Alex out of his coat.

“Will you join me?”

“Sure.”

Alexander nearly rips John’s coat in his rush to get him out of it.

* * *

 

The next two weeks pass by in a blur of tinsel and lights as John decorates the apartment, luring Alex into helping at every chance he gets. Though there are a few hours every day where John disappears and Alex can’t get a hold of him, no matter how many times he tries to call. The Christmas decorations aren’t all bad Alex decides while he watches John excitedly talk about the Nutcracker he convinced Martha to send to him. Though they can get kind of excessive, he concludes as he runs his fingers through the tinsel spread out over the counter.

“It’s Christmas Eve!” John shouts from the doorway, pulling something behind him.

“Please tell me that’s not another decoration,” Alex responds with his arms crossed.

John laughs and shakes his head, closing the door behind him, “no, it’s not another decoration.” He pulls it into the bedroom and slides it under the bed before making his back over to Alex, “are you excited for the Schuyler’s party tonight?”

Alex shrugs, “yeah, I’m sure that it’ll be fun.”

“What’s wrong?” John asks, kicking off his shoes and slipping his coat off.

Again, Alex shrugs, “I don’t know.”

“If it’s the decorations, I can put some away,” John says, moving over to Alexander.

“It’s not the decorations,” Alexander replies as he wraps his arms around John. “I love the decorations.”

“Do you want to go for a walk?”

“It’s cold outside.”

John runs his hands through Alex’s hair and presses a kiss to the top of his head, “do you want to make cookies?”

Alex shakes his head and takes a deep breath, “I think that I’m just overwhelmed.”

“Honey, why didn’t you tell me that you were overwhelmed? I would’ve stopped all of this.”

“You were having so much fun!” Alexander protests, “I didn’t want to upset you.”

John chuckles and pulls Alexander closer to him, “Alex, this was all for you. You could’ve just said no to some of this.” He looks around at the decorations spread out, “it is a bit excessive.”

Alexander rests his chin on John’s chest and looks up at him, “I think it would be better if our apartment were bigger.”

John nods slowly, “yeah, you’re probably right.”

“You’re not upset?”

He presses a kiss to Alex’s forehead, “of course not. Next year, we’ll just do a lot less.”

Alex quickly shakes his head, “no no, I had a lot of fun. It’s just… too much for my first actual Christmas.”

“Fair enough,” John agrees. “I didn’t think it through.”

Alex laughs and kisses John slowly, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Alexander,” John replies, pulling away from the kiss. “Do you want some coffee and your laptop?”

Alexander sighs in relief and steps away from John, “you know me so well.”

“I’d be a horrible boyfriend if I didn’t,” he replies before walking over to the coffee maker.

About three hours later, John taps lightly on Alex’s shoulder, “hey, you have to get ready for the Schuyler’s Non-Denominational Winter Holiday Extravaganza.”

Alexander looks up at him, “are they really calling it that?”

John nods, “absolutely. We’re also on the cusp of running late so you may want to hurry.”

He nods and jumps up, running to the bedroom already tugging off his shirt as he goes.

John laughs and saves Alex’s work before closing the laptop. He walks to the bathroom and buttons the last few buttons his shirt before tying his red tie, pressing it flat against his chest. “Alexander, you almost ready?”

Alexander hops out of the bedroom, one leg in his suit pants and the other halfway in, “almost there, give me like five minutes. Have you seen my tie anywhere?”

John moves around Alex and walks into the bedroom, “hmm, did you check the closet doorknob?”

“Yes?”

He rolls his eyes and pulls the closet door open, tugging the tie off of the knob, “I found it.” He walks back to Alex and hands it over, “your shirt’s not buttoned correctly.”

Alexander groans and makes quick work of correcting the buttons before tucking his shirt into his pants. He puts the tie on and quickly ties it, “how do I look?”

“Handsome, as always,” John responds, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. “I’ve already got the presents by the door.”

“Instead of going to the Non-Denominational Winter Holiday Extravaganza,” Alex starts, putting his shoes on, “we should just go get eloped.”

John nearly falls into the wall and he quickly clears his throat, “as much as I would like to do that, you know that everyone would actually kill us.”

“Yeah, fair enough,” he slips his coat on and helps John into his. “We just fit so well together, I can’t imagine not being with you.”

“I’m sure that marriage can wait another day,” John says, picking up the stack of gifts.

“Yes, but I can’t,” Alex protests.

John’s heart is racing as he pushes Alex out the door and pulls it shut behind them, “come on, Romeo. We’re already late.”

Alex whines and follows after him, “Johhnnn, why won’t you agree to marry me? I’m pretty great.”

John rolls his eyes as they walk outside into the snow, “because, Alex, I can’t decide if you’re actually being serious.” He hands the gifts to Alex so he can focus on hailing a cab.

“I’m being completely serious, John,” Alex replies, climbing into the cab behind John and handing back half of the gifts. “I am one hundred percent ready to marry you.”

John’s heart nearly jumps out of his chest. He truly does want to marry Alex, absolutely, he can’t imagine being with anybody else, but he doesn’t want Alex to feel like he has to propose just because it’s Christmas. Just because John planned all of this. Just because he’s been doing all of this for Alex. “I’ll think about it.”

“What the heck I gotta do to be with you,” Alex groans and rests his head back on the seat, “do I need to give you a list of all the reasons why you should marry me? Do I need to dance?” The Christmas decorations the decorate the city pass over the car, illuminating the stars in their eyes.

John shakes his head and just as he opens his mouth to protest Alex’s list. He starts listing reasons.

“One, I’m a pretty great guy,” Alex starts and John snorts.

“Two, I love you,” the car stops in front of the Schuyler’s apartment building.

“Three, I still haven’t counted all of your freckles,” they’re walking up the steps into the building.

“Four, when I lay in bed, I sometimes watch your chest rise and fall and think about how lucky I am that you chose me,” they’re walking into the elevator and John presses the button for the Schuyler’s floor.

“Five, I don’t know if you feel the same way but there’s no one else that I want to spend the rest of my life with,” they’re exiting the elevator and walking to the Schuyler’s door.

“Six, you’re the love my life,” John’s knocking on the door.

“I’ll think about it,” John says for the second time that evening.

Alexander sighs just as Eliza opens the door, “come on, John. Please marry me, I’ll beg if you want.”

“Hey guys,” Eliza says, eyebrow raised. “Merry Christmas!”

John grins at Eliza and hugs her quickly, “merry Christmas, Eliza.”

She gestures for them to come in and John takes the gifts from Alex, “just over there by the tree.”

As John walks to the tree, Eliza turns to Alex, “you asked him to marry you?”

“Merry Christmas to you too, Betsey,” Alex says, pulling her in for a hug.

Eliza hugs back quickly and mumbles,” merry Christmas.” She pulls away and looks at him sternly, “you asked him to marry you?”

Alex nods quickly, “yeah! I made a list and everything.”

“And?”

“He said he’ll think about it,” he replies with a pout.

“When did you propose?” Eliza asks as Alex takes off his coat and gestures for John to come back over.

“Before we left the apartment,” he says before going quiet as John comes back over. He takes John’s coat and hangs it on top of his on the coat rack. They share a quick kiss before John goes back to his conversation with Peggy.

Eliza smacks his arm, “you can’t just spring that on him, Alex!”

Alex rubs his arm, “ouch, no need to hit me.”

“Why are we hitting dear Alex?” Lafayette asks, walking over with three glasses of champagne. They hand one to Eliza and one to Alex, keeping one for themselves.

Eliza murmurs her thanks and then says, “Alex proposed to John before they left the apartment.”

Lafayette hits Alex’s other arm, “mon ami, I love you but you can be so, how you say, stupid! You don’t propose like that.”

“That’s what I was saying!” Eliza agrees, much to Alex’s protests.

“Come on, you guys, it was the right time,” Alex replies, rubbing the arm Laf had hit. “Can we not hit me anymore?”

Hercules walks over and wraps an arm around Lafayette’s waist, “as much as I love hitting Alex,” Alex pouts, “it’s Christmas, so let’s give him a break.”

“Thank you, Hercules,” Alex says with a grin, “that’s why you’re my favorite.”

Eliza rolls her eyes, “fine, he can help you actually propose to John.” She walks over to Maria and Theodosia and Alex quickly follows trying to get back into her good graces.

“Wait,” Hercules says and turns to Laf, “Alex proposed to John?”

Lafayette chuckles and presses a kiss to Hercules’ forehead, leaving a lipstick stain, “mon cher, you miss everything.”

 

“Come on, children,” Angelica calls from her spot by the tree a few hours later. “Gather around!” She picks up the Santa hat from the floor next to her and pulls it on.

John’s standing next to the eggnog bowl, talking in whispers with Theodosia when Alex pulls on his arm, “yeah?”

“Angelica wants us all over by the tree,” Alex replies, taking his hand and smiling when John laces their fingers.

“Lead their way,” he says, sending a smile to Theodosia before following Alex to where Angelica is standing. Alex pulls him onto the sofa and he curls up against Alex’s side, pulling his legs close to leave more room on the sofa. Hercules sits next to him and pulls Lafayette onto his lap, who throws their legs over John’s.

Angelica waits until everyone is in the room before clapping her hands loudly to gain their attention, “y’all better be ready because I’m not waiting any longer. Let Santa Claus do her job.” She kneels down and picks up the first gift from underneath the tree, “ah, Peggy, here you go dear.” She throws it behind her and Peggy jumps up to catch it, “thanks, Angie.”

She continues rummaging underneath the tree, handing out each present to who it’s labeled for. Alex looks over at John and whispers, “I think we forgot some presents. The two I got for you aren’t here?”

John nods, “I know. I left the ones we got for each other at home so we can have our own Christmas tomorrow.”

Alex smiles and presses a kiss to his cheek, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” John replies, letting Alex move them around so that he can rest his head on John’s shoulder.

Angelica finishes handing out the gifts and takes her seat between Eliza and Peggy, and begins opening her gifts. Which everyone takes as the cue that they begin opening theirs. Theodosia and Burr receive a few baby things and a 3 day trip to a spa that everyone came together to get them, the tears in their eyes when they opened it was thanks enough. John promises to babysit, especially because he and Alex would love to spend time with their goddaughter.

Alex picks up a box from in front of him, addressed to him with everybody’s name on it, and John quickly shushes everyone. “What is this?”

“Well, it was John’s idea but we all contributed,” Eliza spoke up from her spot.

Alex unwraps the wrapping paper to reveal a white wooden box with Chinese characters painted on the lid. He carefully lifts the lid to reveal what looks like a pen, a black base with Chinese lion painted on it in reds, golds, blues, and greens. He carefully picks up the pen and uncaps it, revealing a silver and gold nib that glistens in the artificial light from the room. “You guys…” he trails off, eyes burning as he feels his heart fill with love for the group.

“You brought us all together, Alex,” Lafayette says, “it’s the least we could do.”

“Without you, I wouldn’t have pushed myself to pursue Theo,” Aaron says from his spot by his wife.

“I wouldn’t have met Maria,” Eliza says, taking Maria’s hand in hers with a cheesy grin, which she returns immediately.

“I wouldn’t have had the confidence to be myself,” Lafayette says, patting Alex’s arm. “You’re our petit lion.”

“You’ve kind of introduced us all, man,” Hercules says, tightening his arms around Lafayette’s waist.

“You may be obnoxious and rude,” Thomas says from his spot in the corner, “but I wouldn’t want to argue with anyone else so,” he raises his glass of eggnog, “merry Christmas, Alexander.”

“In both East and West cultures,” John whispers into Alex’s ear, “lions are luck-bringing animals that avert evil, beckon happiness, and promote joy.” He presses a kiss to his shocked boyfriend’s cheek, “I hope you like it.”

The rest of the night passes in a blur of metallic wrapping paper, laughter, and pure happiness. Eventually 2 am rolls around and John hunts down Alex, finding him in the corner wearing the oversized sweater that Hercules made for him.

“John!” Alex calls, making grabby hands for him once he’s in Alex’s sight.

“Are you drunk?” John asks laughing and sitting down next to Alex.

“No,” he murmurs, wrapping his arms around John’s torso. “I’m just,” he sighs, “I’m happy.”

He smiles and kisses the top of Alex’s head, “I’m happy too, Alex.” He stands up, much to Alex’s protests, “come on, though, it’s time to head home.”

“Will there be any taxis out?” Alex asks, grasping John’s hand that he holds out and allowing himself to be pulled up.

“Maybe, if we’re lucky,” John responds, wishing everyone they pass a merry Christmas as they walk to the door. He tugs on his shoes and helps the exhausted and drunk on happiness man with his. “I’m going to have to let go of your hand for our coats. Is that okay?” John asks him, reaching for their coats.

Alex nods but reluctantly drops his hand, taking his coat from John and slipping it on over his eggnog stained shirt. John picks up their bag of gifts from by the door and waves goodbye to everyone before exiting the apartment and making their way to the elevator. It’s quiet between the couple as they make their way downstairs and outside the building, Alex hails a passing taxi and climbs in with John following behind him. Alex pays the cab fare and the tip when they pull up outside of their building and they still haven’t spoken a word to each other. They walk up to their apartment and John unlocks the door, pushing it open and walking in with Alex. He sets the bag on the sofa and then walks back to the door to kick off his shoes. “John,” Alex whispers, breaking the silence between them.

John looks up at him with a smile and gestures for him to continue as he tugs off his coat.

“Merry Christmas,” he says, taking his own coat off.

“Merry Christmas, Alex,” John replies before taking Alex’s hand in his. “Now let’s go get some sleep.”

Alexander shakes his head, “nope, I’m really not that tired.”

“Please? For me?”

Alex rolls his eyes, “wow you’re persuasive, you should be a lawyer.” Before gesturing for him to lead the way to the bedroom.

John snorts and pulls him to the bedroom, “I didn’t ask for your attitude, Hamilton.”

When they get into the bedroom, Alex takes off his tie and unbuttons his shirt before dropping them both to the floor, “but you still love me.” He takes off his pants and jumps into the bed.

“Yeah, I still love you,” John replies, taking off his clothes and curling up next to Alex. “Now get some sleep. We have presents to open in a couple hours.”

He falls asleep shortly after John does, content to watch the rise and fall of John’s chest before sleep claims him.

* * *

When noon rolls around and John drags himself out of bed, Alex is not curled up next to him. He walks into the living room and finds Alex seated on the sofa with a mug of coffee in one hand and a pen in the other as he edits an essay due after break. When John sits down next to him, he gestures to another steaming mug on the coffee table, “one cream, five sugars.”

John grins and picks it up, “you know me so well.” He takes a sip and leans back against the armrest, “are you ready to open presents?”

Alexander shrugs and puts his essay on the coffee table, “honestly, I’m more than willing to sit here with you for a while.”

“That’s sweet and all but I really want you to open your gifts,” John says, taking another sip of his coffee.

“Then why did you ask me if I was ready?” Alex asks with an eye roll.

“It’s called being polite, asshole,” he responds, setting his coffee down and getting up. “I’m going to get yours, don’t drink my coffee.”

“Your coffee is fucking gross, John,” Alex replies, taking a sip anyway and shuddering at the taste.

John comes back a few minutes later, carrying the sheet covered item he brought home with him yesterday. He sets it down in front of him and sits down, “there’s your first gift.”

Alex raises an eyebrow and pulls off the sheet, feeling his jaw drop as he stares at the canvas facing him. It’s the ocean. Well, it’s the white sandy beaches and clear blue water that Alex saw as a child, and on the sand are two figures. Hands clasped as they spin in a circle. “Who’s that?” Alex asks, afraid to move in closer to look at the smaller details.

John clears his throat, “that’s you and, um, your mom.”

Alex falls down on his knees in front of the painting and finally looks closer, noticing each individual brush stroke and the care put into the figures.

“You can touch it, if you want,” John whispers.

Alex presses his fingers lightly against the paint, afraid that the image will fade away, feeling each sharp jagged point from the dried paint. He can hear the sounds of his mother’s laughter as they spin on the sand, the feeling of sand getting between his toes and the sounds of waves crashing against the shore. He can practically see the salt in his mother’s hair from the swimming they had just done, can still feel her warm hands grasped in his own. He can still see her bright smile that rivals the sun high in the sky. He doesn’t realize he’s crying until John’s wiping his tears and pulling him into his arms.

John rubs his back gently and presses kisses to his head, “I didn’t mean for you to cry, I’m so sorry. I can redo it, if you want.”

Alex frantically shakes his head, “don’t you dare redo it. I love it, thank you so much. How did you know all that?”

John smiles gently and replies, “you told me once, though you were drunk, that your favorite memory in the Caribbean was when you and your mom went to the beach and you spent the day swimming and dancing on the sand. That it was hot and your mom was exhausted but she was smiling.”

Alex nods and pulls away, wiping away his tears, “thank you, John.” He stands up, “let me get your gifts now, please.”

John shakes his head and pulls Alex back down, “nope, I have one more gift for you.”

“John, you really didn’t have to do anything else.”

He gets up and picks up the gift from under the tree before walking back to Alex and placing it in his lap. “Lafayette helped me with this one. You said you missed the beach and I don’t think driving to the beach in Jersey would be the same, y’know?”

Alexander gives him a confused look and pulls off the wrapping paper, revealing a pale green box, “John, what is this?”

“Just open it.”

So he does. He pulls out two medium sized glass jars; one holds sand while the other holds water, “John-”

“Open the jars, Alex,” John says with a laugh.

He twists the lid off the jar that holds sand to find pure white sand that one would not be able to get in New York, “is this?” John gestures to the other jar and Alex twists the lid off of that one and is immediately hit with the smell of the ocean. He remembers his childhood and resists the urge to dip his finger in the salt water, “is this from the Caribbean?” He puts the lids back on, longing for the smell when it dissipates from the air.

John nods, “yeah! I told Lafayette about the idea and they had a friend who was visiting the Caribbean, who apparently loves love, and they just happened to be in Nevis at the time so they were more than willing to help out.”

“You got me sand and water from Nevis for Christmas?” Alex asks.

“Well, when you put it like that it sounds like a shitty gift,” John says, looking down at his hands.

Alex sits the jars down and wraps his arms around John, “these are the greatest gifts anyone has ever gotten me.”

John returns the hug with a grin, “I’m happy that you like them, Alex.”

“I don’t know if my gifts will top that at all,” Alex says, pulling away and grabbing his gifts. He sees the small box he hid in the tree last night and ignores it in favor of picking up the poorly wrapped gifts from underneath the plastic branches. He walks back to John and places them in his lap, taking a seat next to him, “I’m sorry in advance.”

John quickly unwraps the present with blue wrapping paper to reveal a knitted green sweater. “I knitted that for you. Hercules tried to help but I uh,” he rubs the back of his neck, “I wanted to do it myself. It’s knitted with complete romantic love.”

John pulls it on and grins, “I love it, Alex, thank you.” It doesn’t fit perfectly, the sleeves are way too long and the sweater itself hangs down passed his ass but it’s warm and cozy and he looks happy, even if the fabric is a little scratchy.

“Open the other one.”

He pulls the wrapping paper off of it to reveal a book. He opens the cover to see a handwritten note on the inside that reads,

_My Dearest,_

_John, I don’t have much to give you, I don’t have a dollar to my name. All I really have is my intelligence and a high pain tolerance. I’m not good enough for you but… I love you and I like to think that that’s enough for us. Anything that I’ve had and everything that I will get is yours for as long as you’re willing to have me. You have my heart. Merry Christmas, my love._

_Yours forever,_

_A. Ham._

John quickly wipes his tears away as he flips through the pages in the book, each one containing photos that highlight their lives. The first day everyone met, holidays, birthdays, dates, the day John finally decided to switch to medicine, Alex asking John to get an apartment with him, moving in, Halloween, Thanksgiving, last night at the Schuyler’s party (“I wrapped it this morning while you were still asleep”), and a few blank pages.

“We still have more things to do together. We can even add more pages as we go,” Alex says, waiting for John’s reaction.

John slowly sets it down on the coffee table and then throws himself at Alex, wrapping his arms tightly around him as he presses his lips to Alex’s, “I love you so much, you have no idea.”

“I think I do,” Alex responds as he pulls away from John with a grin.

 

That night, after spending hours making Christmas cookies, they’re curled up side by side on the sofa, with a blanket thrown over them and John’s dozing off against Alex’s. National Lampoon’s something or other plays on the television, if you asked Alex he couldn’t tell you the name of it. He could, however, tell you how it felt to have John pressed up against him, how it felt to feel the warm of him as he dozed off. He could tell you how it felt to know that John trusts him enough to let his guard down like that. He could tell you how it felt to know that there’s an engagement ring sitting three feet behind him and how he _just can’t do it_. Alexander could tell you how it felt to be completely exhausted and partially covered in flour but full of love as he looks down at John, thinking about how he wants to spend the rest of his life with him.

“Merry Christmas, John.”

“Merry Christmas, Alex.”

Now this is a Christmas tradition that Alex can get behind.

**Author's Note:**

> This is two days late and I'm very sorry! I don't spend any time at home during this holiday, no excuse I know, but sorry about it being late. I hope you enjoyed it!!  
> If you celebrated Christmas then I hope you had an amazing one!  
> If you celebrate Kwanzaa then Joyous Kwanzaa!!  
> If you celebrate Hanukkah then Happy Hanukkah!!  
> If you celebrate none of these then I hope you're having a fantastic week!! Or if you celebrated one that I didn't list then I hope you had, or are having, a fantastic holiday!!  
> I hope that you're all doing well and I wish you all a wonderful New Year (my birthday is January 1st haha)!!  
> (This is the pen Alex got http://www.pensinasia.com/le_maki-e_chinese_lion___pelikan.htm)  
> Let me know what you think!! Have a wonderful day/night!! :D <3


End file.
